


Things Never Stay Hidden For Long

by noctiscorvus



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: And a little comedy 'cause it is Tony and Loki and Clint has to make a comment or two, M/M, slight drama because oh god Loki's hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-13
Updated: 2012-10-13
Packaged: 2017-11-16 05:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/536153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noctiscorvus/pseuds/noctiscorvus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team finds out Tony's on more than just friendly terms with Loki, but the Man of Iron doesn't have time to worry about that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Never Stay Hidden For Long

**Author's Note:**

> I'm amazed at how little I had to edit, considering the state I was in when writing this.  
> Or my grammar has gotten so terrible I've missed half of the mistakes.
> 
> Written for recklessisawreck over on Tumblr for putting up with me and my late night odditites.

Tony runs a finger along sharp cheekbones, once again amazed at how pale the skin is compared to his. And he rarely got out these days, having lost the tan from his stay in the Malibu house weeks ago.  
The skin is smooth too, nothing like his calloused digits, and cold. Though that's kind of why the Avengers had all gathered.  
Fury’s favourite briefing room was probably tuned in on the show, the team throwing ideas around or just questioning Tony’s ever doubtful sanity.  
The Thunder God hovering in the doorway is silent though, not his usual M.O. but Tony wasn’t going to complain, fingers still ghosting over the sleeping Jotun’s face.

The harsh lights of the examination room were doing Loki’s complexion no favour, not that he’d care even if he’d been awake.  
Instruments beeped and whirred, wires disappearing under the itchy-looking blanket thrown over the God of Mischief, and none of them eased the tight feeling in Tony’s gut.  
There wasn’t anything he could have done, yet he still feels at fault for being helpless when Loki needed him.  
He didn’t realize he’d fisted a handful of the blanket, it didn’t just look itchy, till the sound of Thor’s armour shifting echoes through the room.  
The so-called genius blinks and breathes out heavily through his nose, his hand shaking with effort as the fist uncurls.  
He has a conversation to get through.

“Stark.” Thor proves himself capable of using an indoor voice and Tony has half a mind to comment, but he feels tired and just fed up of everything. He has things to think of, a solution for the error in his newest armour, a glitch in the latest Stark phone, a way to track down Doom and deal him some serious hurt. Having to explain to Thor why he was the one who brought Loki in, the one that threatened the medical and security staff with great pain should they even try to restrain the Jotun, well, it wasn’t a conversation he’d been looking forward to when things had been going considerably better.  
Steeling himself, Tony turns to face the blonde giant, almost regretting it when he sees the look of sympathy on his features.  
Tony Stark does not accept pity.  
“Look, big guy, it’s be-” He’s promptly cut off by a heavy hand on his shoulder.  
“Friend, I question not your intentions towards my brother.” Blue eyes cut down pointedly to the hand Tony has slipped under the blanket, fingers holding on to Loki’s in a painful grip “I merely wish to thank you for bringing him-“  
“Yeah, no.” Now Tony jumps in, shrugging the hand off his shoulder and turning back to the unconscious other-worldly being.

“I sho-He shouldn’t be like this. I should have thought of something, should have chucked my suit at Doom when all else failed. Something.” His free hand slams onto the bed beside Loki’s head, jaw clenched tight because he refuses to yell. He won’t let the team see that Victor has gotten to him, even if they all know it.  
“You did all you could.” Thor knows better than to touch him again, Tony can see the abortive hand gesture from the corner of his eye.  
“How do you know.” It wasn’t question, the bitterness in his voice unfair and doing nothing to make him feel better.  
“Because a man protects those he cares for with all his might!” Thor’s voice rose to his normal pitch before he realized, quickly lowering it and his head as if that would help too “And you care deeply, friend.”  
“Yeah, well..” And for all he’s worth, Tony can’t think of anything to say to that, opens and closes his mouth a couple times before deciding that Thor isn’t really looking for an answer.

Seemingly satisfied, Thor slaps a hand against Tony’s back, jolting him forward so his hip slams into the table.  
The billionaire grunts but offers no complaint, the God always seemed to be deaf to them anyway.  
“You take first watch while I inquire as to our next course of action against this Doctor of Doom.” Now at the door, Thor gives him one last nod and his brother a sort of forlorn look before leaving them alone in the near silence.

It takes a few hours of tests, but they’re pretty sure Victor von Doom stole Loki’s essence and Thor’s certain his brother is in no immediate danger, Tony’s brain hanging on ‘immediate’ because how long is that?  
They map out an attack plan, using the excuse that Doom broke some contractual agreement when he blasted a giant hole in Tony’s roof even if he didn’t touch the Avenger himself, then break for a couple more hours so everyone can get rested.  
Tony knows this is more directed at him, not having slept since he arrived in the middle of the night with Loki and God knows how long before that.  
He begrudgingly hands it to the team, the only one who’s given an opinion on Tony’s relationship with Loki being Barton, a dig on how he’s got to be a masochist for hooking up with the guy that throws him through windows and walls. And really, knowing Hawkeye’s usual repertoire when he finds out someone is involved with another human being, that’s pretty damn light.  
In fact, not even good old Steve has so much as shown a hint of being disappointed in Tony’s latest conquest.

He stops walking, taking a moment to wince because Loki would kill him if he heard that. And then go on to prove that if anyone has been ‘conquested’ it’s Tony.  
And that’s purely because he quite likes being subjected to Loki’s will.  
A ghost of a smile plays his lips as he carries on to his temporary quarters.  
But Tony doesn’t sleep, sees Loki’s pale form everytime he blinks for too long.  
Besides, he tells JARVIS, his genius kicks in more when he’s starved for sleep.  
His AI gives him a sarcastic “Of course, sir.” and feeds Tony’s PDA the necessary information on the suit malfunction.  
He’s almost got it sorted when departure time rolls around, and Tony’s never dropped work this quick before, hands shaking again as his armour closes him in.

For all the emotional turmoil Doom caused Tony in the last 24 hours, he caves pretty easily, though Stark figures that might have something to do with Victor being ambushed in his own bedroom from all sides by deadly weapons.  
Tony gets a few hits in, even if Doom technically surrendered and he sees Cap square his shoulders, expecting a reprimand. It doesn’t come and he starts to think that this unspoken taboo stuff is getting kind of annoying, when Thor waves a light blue casket around, booming about victory.  
It’s handed to Tony, Steve halfway through requesting their ride back when red and gold streak by and away into the clouds above.

 

Iron Man has just enough fuel to get back to the airship, dropping the billionaire not-quite-a-playboy-anymore on the flight deck like a stone in water.  
Suit discarded where it landed, Tony runs the rest of the way, amazed that his condition is this good and fully expecting to collapse the moment he hands the casket off.  
It’s a close call, really, Tony half leaning on the bed to keep himself from falling, chest heaving as he puts the glowing container on Loki’s bare chest and waits.  
Nothing happens and he’s close to crying out in frustration when he notices a little latch.  
Picking it open, wisps of soft blue smoke leak out, behaving unlike anything he’s ever seen, tendrils curling beautifully in the air and reaching out to him in an almost beckon.  
Worried that it’ll attach itself to him instead of Loki, he stumbles away, a hand suddenly on his back to keep him from actually falling.  
Coulson says something to him, but he’s not listening because the coils unwinding away from him and suddenly piercing into Loki’s pale chest.  
It all goes in, like it’s being sucked into the Jotun’s body and Tony gets to witness the white skin turn blue, something Loki’s only shown him twice.  
And his breathe catches, just like the previous times, because it beautiful and alien and like before, he reaches out, fingers running over a line that dances down Loki’s arm in intricate swirls.

It fades quickly, Tony leaning over the bed as he slips his fingers between the God’s and squeezes, his shoulders already sagging because the hand is warm and suddenly squeezing back.  
Bright eyes flicker open and closed for a few moments before Loki’s focused on him and already scowling.  
Tony just grins back, tired and more happy than he’s been in days and let’s his head fall forward till their foreheads are resting together, “Welcome back.”  
Sharp eyes dart down to the strange weight on his chest, taking in the casket before realization dawns and the memories flood back, “Hmm.”  
And that hums says so much to Tony, questions and complaints all rolled into one sound, that he just nods in reply and strokes a thumb along Loki’s cheek.  
The kiss is slow and tender, that familiar spark, of what Tony can only imagine is magic, making his lips tingle is somehow more reassuring that Loki is fine than actually seeing him awake.  
He snorts to himself before passing out.

When he wakes, Thor is putting a folding chair to the test as he’s still in full armour, Mjölnir by his feet, as he shifts and makes the chair creak out a warning.  
The smile he gets is bright, the tone of voice loud as he congratulates Tony on having saved the beloved Loki and then goes on about how his brother is shy, disappearing the moment the rest of the Avengers showed up.  
That surprises Tony, having figured the God would leave the moment he was able to move and realised where exactly he was.  
Thor slaps his back, Tony’s yelp trailing off into a groan “Brother was worried the man of Fury would imprison you for courting him and used his ice shield to keep you from capture till we could aid you.”  
Which explains why Sparky was looking so pleased.  
Thor probably saw it as Loki giving in to the good nature he was sure the God of Mischief kept hidden under the helmet.  
Tony didn’t have the heart to tell him that Loki was just paying back the debt, knowing he didn’t like owing people anything.  
And because he kind of liked the idea of Loki doing it purely to protect him, that he meant that kind of risk to the Jotun.

The briefing is held around his bed, Fury all too aware Tony would bolt given the first chance.  
He’s told off for not waiting on the SHIELD transport and pushing himself too far till the point of collapsing. No one is surprised when he just shrugs and asks how that’s any different from usual.  
Then Fury pops the question they’ve all been waiting for, “What on Earth were you thinking when you decided getting intimate with a known threat to Humanity was a good idea?”  
Tony doesn’t hesitate, ticking the options off on his fingers, “Uh, why are there so many buckles, would he kill me if I used scissors, they don’t say silver tongue for nothing, it’s probably smart to move this off the balcony. Take your pick.” And really, Tony thinks, Nick should have expected that.  
The super spy works his jaw, like he’s deciding whether or not to just kill him here and now and be done with it, when Steve jumps in, eyes hard and trained on Tony like he’s just daring him to lie.  
“Have you told him anything about the Avengers o-“  
“No. We don’t get round to much talking, if you now what I mean.” And that was mostly just so Tony could see Steve go red. In truth, they got plenty of talking in, trading insults and explaining how magic or technology worked.  
They kept off topics that would require the other to act, not wanting to ruin the easy comfort they’d found.  
“I’m not compromised and I’m not about to start sharing secrets of the trade, so relax.” He makes a shooing motion till Bruce backs up enough for him to actually get out of the bed.  
Fury raises an eyebrow, “You obviously have a different meaning for compromised, Stark.” But he leaves it at that, knows you can’t force an answer out of Tony unless he’s drugged or drunk.  
“Maybe. Keeps things fun though.” And he winks, Clint’s snort the only sound as everyone else decides to roll their eyes or pretend they have no clue what he’s talking about.

“So, they actually let you go?”, Loki’s drawl is coming from the wetbar, a glass of whiskey sliding towards Tony as he walks up.  
“Apparently I’m intolerable and corrupt beyond all reason that keeping me there has no further use than to give Fury migraines.” He speaks like he has no idea where his team got that idea from, his mock innocence earning him a short laugh from the God.  
“I’d think that’s plenty of reason to keep you there, but I may be biased.” And Tony’s smirk is hidden by the glass as he throws it all back, Loki watching his throat work with appreciation one would normally save for inspirational art.  
“A little, but that’s part of your frosty charm.” Tony wiggles his fingers for emphasis, Loki biting one when it comes too close and making the Midgardian yelp.  
“I told you about your poor choice of jokes.” There’s not even a warning in his voice any more, having said it so often and it yield practically no result.  
“Well, thankfully that’s the only thing poor about me.” Tony grins, sucking on the abused finger a little obscenely as he walks backwards.  
Loki watches him for a second, taking in the view before starting to unfasten his armour as he trails after Tony, “You sure you’re up for it? I’d hate to wear you out and have you fall unconscious halfway through.”  
Tony laughs, mouth quirked into a smirk as he saunters off to the bedroom.


End file.
